A 1950's Army Motto and America Today

I read an old Army saying from the 1950s the other day, and it made me think of just how different, and not necessarily in a good way, the Army  - and America - is today. The saying goes:

"If it moves, salute it.

If it doesn't move, pick it up.

If you can't pick it up, paint it."

Another Step Closer

Once again, I'm home from training. On Thursday, I graduated from Basic Officer Leadership Course II (BOLC II) which was basically a review of everything I have learned in both BCT and OCS. I'm actually glad of the review since I feel much more comfortable with the infantry-type training I have thus far received.
Now that is all behind me. On June 1st, I finally begin my branch training, AKA job training. Everyone is required to have a certain amount of infantry training in the Army these days because everyone is pretty much expected to eventually go to Iraq. Even if your job is not infantry per se, no one wants to be another Jessica Lynch if you know what I mean. That was simply an instance of ignorance and poor decision-making at its finest. Thus, everyone is required to be infantry trained nowadays, thank goodness.

From Books to Bunkers: A Scholar-Turned-Soldier Story

Where might you find graduates from Yale and Cornell, a Capitol Hill intern,  and conversation concerning the anatomy of a comma splice, the correct pronunciation and etymology of the word "forte," the Christian undertones in Beowulf, or a discussion of the differences between Islam, Christianity and Paganism all in one place? Why, the United States Army, of course! As fantastical as that idea may seem, it has been my own personal experience. If such a possibility had been proposed even to me a mere year ago, I probably would have scoffed at it: Ivy League alumni and erudite conversation about every conceivable topic among the rank and file of the Army? Are you kidding? Fortunately, I have been disabused of such stereotypical beliefs. I discovered since my embarkation upon this journey into the Army Officer Corps that, surprisingly, the Army was to become one of the most multifarious, entertaining, and mentally and physically challenging experiences of my entire life.

You Can't Spell Lost without the "LT"

So here I sit, basking in the afterglow of my graduation from Officer Candidate School on Thursday. I don't believe the enormity of it all has actually quite hit me yet. In fact, it seems mostly unreal. It probably won't fully hit me until I reach my permanent duty station in August. Then, I imagine as I walk into that position of command, it will slam down upon me like a ton of bricks. If I don't feel lost now, I will most certainly feel it then.

Officer Candidate Bean Reporting!

So, I'm home from OCS (officer candidate school) for the holidays, woohoo! It has been an interesting few weeks since I finished BCT (basic training). When I arrived at Fort Benning I hung out for a week in kind of a holding pattern until it was time try out for my OCS class. Yes, we had to try out! For whatever reason there were too many people scheduled for this class, so everyone had to compete for their spot.

Me and G.I. Jane

So, I'm home from BCT (Army Basic Combat Training) and am waiting to ship off to OCS (Army Officer Candidate School) tomorrow. They certainly don't leave a lot of time to kill, do they? Regardless, what little break I did get has definitely been much needed and appreciated.

Eleven Days and Counting...

The much-anticipated month has finally arrived! I am now a mere eleven days and counting from my ship date to Basic Combat Training (BCT) for the United States Army. In a way, I'm excited and glad that the wait is finally almost over. I mean I signed on the dotted line way back in April, but I was put on the Delayed Entry Program because I had to finish my contract with the highschool I taught for before I left, so here I waited. At times glad for the delay because it gave me so much to time to get all the little ends tied up, well I've almost gotten them tied up anyways! It gave me time to work on PT (physical training); although, my distance run is still just barely over where it should be. *sigh* It even gave me time to learn some of the simple things like the phonetic alphabet, military time, and ranks and insignia. I'm also pretty excited about all the fun stuff: shooting guns, blowing stuff up, infiltration exercises, and even things like repelling and obstacle courses. I've always liked being active, so I think I'll enjoy that stuff as long as I can actually *do* it! Plus, when I play my video games, I always choose Wizards because I enjoy nuking things to death; so throwing grenades is going to be AWESOME!!! LOL

G.I. Jane Wannabe

So, I’ve been running my ass off all summer trying to get it into gear for bootcamp come Sept. 12th. I’ve run come rain or shine, 108 degrees or 88 degrees. I’ve run up hills and down hills. I’ve run for distance, and I’ve sprinted like the very demons from Hell were behind me. I’ve even run through shin splints and a hangover or two. I’ve run 5-6 days a week and still, I cannot run more than 2.25 miles!!! Situps, no problem! I can do 45 of those in 2 minutes. Pushups are yet another of my nemeses, I can’t move past 17...BUT I can say that I do a damn fine REAL pushup! Now time is slipping away on me, instead of three months, I now have less than three weeks. Will I be ready? Will Demi kick my ass after all? Surely I’m not that much of a woos! Will my DSs grandma spit on me as she wizzes by me in her walker??? Will I be eating the dust of all the little hottie 18-year-olds? Geez, I hope not! My only hope is that I don’t embarrass myself so that everybody will think, geez we really have let our standards down to be letting her old, wannabe ass in! Anyways, wish me luck and endurance and willpower, because I’m gonna need it all to make it!